'Computer' error inflates number of persons missing due to Basyang

The extra "zero" made the big difference. A simple clerical error in a National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) report caused the number of missing people due to Typhoon Basyang to spike to more than 50 nationwide. The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) corrected its earlier report that 40 people went missing off Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte, saying only four were unaccounted for, administrator Benito Ramos on Thursday. The OCD is the implementing arm of the NDCC. One of the personnel from the local government in Camarines Norte who was encoding figures for the situation report incorrectly placed a zero right after the number "4," he said. "Nagkamali ang staff ni governor ng pagta-type. 40 [ang nailagay] eh apat lang iyon... Nag-type kasi ng zero, 'di ba? Eh computer kasi eh," Ramos said. [By mistake, a staff member from the governor's office in Camarines Norte typed a 'zero' after four. The staff member was using a computer.] It was all too late when they realized the error, Ramos said. The report had already been transmitted to the Presidential Management Staff in Malacañang, which in turn relayed the figures to media. "Ang problema lang dito, the accuracy of the information... The information should be as accurate as possible so that reaction should be accurate also," he said. He feared that the error, if not corrected earlier, would have once more put the government in a bad light. "If you translate this to media attention, [the people will ask] what has the government done to rescue the 40 people? You see the implication of this, they accuse you," Ramos said. The four missing individuals off Calaguas were not tourists but locals who set sail before Basyang battered central and southern Luzon, he said. Not 4, not 40, but 12 However, Father Jerry Llona, parish administrator of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Balocboc village in Calaguas, cites a different figure. There were more missing individuals off the island than what has been so far reported by the NDCC, Llona told GMANews.TV in a separate interview. Twelve fishermen remain missing, the priest said, citing accounts of relatives he had spoken to. The NDCC data might not have yet been reconciled with the updated figures from the ground, causing the "discrepancy," he said. The priest said a total of four fishing boats were trapped in the waters off the island when Basyang entered the country. These are as follows:

• a boat from Balocboc village with five passengers, one of them died, one survived, and three remain missing;
• a second boat from Pinagtigasan village carrying three fishermen, one survived while the remaining two are missing;
• a third boat, also from Pinagtigasan, with three fishermen on board, all of whom have yet to be found; and
• a fourth boat from Balocboc with "many" passengers. All passengers had been rescued, except for four others.

"Hindi na masyadong maalon dito. Pero hindi pa rin naman kalmado ang tubig," he said, describing conditions on the island after Basyang left the Philippines on Thursday morning. At least nine houses were destroyed by the typhoon in Balucboc, he said. While affected families are seeking shelter at a nearby school, they still need supplies like blankets and mats. Catanduanes Meanwhile, Ramos said that aside from the four in Camarines Norte, 11 fishermen have been reported missing in Catanduanes. He said rescue teams from the OCD-NDCC, the military, and Coast Guard continue to look for the missing fishermen in Catanduanes. "Itong 11 na ito, hindi nagpaalam sa Coast Guard. One week ago, nandoon na sila sa dagat, hindi naabisuhan na parating iyong bagyo, kaya hindi nakabalik ngayon," he said. (These 11 fishermen did not seek permission from the Coast Guard to set out to sea when the typhoon took place. There were not informed of the typhoon’s arrival.) - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV